Tipping on a cruise?

Question

I am going on my first cruise in April and am overwhelmed. It seems like EVERYONE talks about how we need to tip everybody on board the ship...how does this work and how much is expected? Help!

Answer 1

dont worry about it.. YOur cruise documents will state the standard daily tipping amount for each person. You give it to them at the end of the cruise (thats easier)..

Head waiter, assistant waiter, someother waiter guy, stateroom attendant, cocktail person you become close with or who really provided great service.

Drinks ordered already have gratuity included so you dont need to leave a tip to your bartender or drink person.

We like to give our stateroom attendant tips from time to time through out the cruise, to keep him/her motivated.

Your cruise website will discus the customary tipping amounts as well.

I usually get all the cash into each envelope in advance and then just give to them at the end of the cruise.

Other tipping is unnecessary accept for dollars here and there for baggage porter (dollar a bag approx) upon boarding, taxi ride etc.

Answer 2

It's typical that cruiselines suggest a $10 total tip per day per person.  This will be dispersed between most everyone that comes into some sort of contact with you.  If your cabin steward or bartender or someone else is amazing and you want to add an additional tip you can also do this.  You can ask the purser's office to not tip a certain person as well if you feel their services were not used or not up to par.   An example of this was our Maitre de never once talked to us on our cruise ship, so we asked that he not be allotted any tip but that our waiter be given the tip instead as he was awesome.  We also left an additional tip for a server that seemed to attend to us constantly with drinks and our cabin steward got an extra $20 as well because he was great!  But really tipping is up to you and what you want to give.  Have fun.

Answer 3

Every cruise company has its own policy regarding gratuities.   Some have prescribed amounts (per person per day), which you may pay either when you purchase your cruise tickets or when you are already onboard the ship.  

Other companies have a tipping-optional policy.  Some companies will give you a tipping guideline (how much to give to the stateroom attendant, the busboy, the waiter, etc.) and some would rather leave it all to your discretion.

It is best to ask your travel agent about the cruise you booked.

Happy sailing!

Answer 4

Most add the tips to your amount that you charge on your ship card (Carinval adds $10 a day for tips). But keep in mind that like all tipping, you don't have to tip anyone if you don't want to. Gratuites are added to drinks and many purchases but you can reverse those at the Pursers Desk anytime or all the last day of the cruise.

Everyone talks about it because most people do tip people like their cabin stewards, their waitress in the dining room, etc. because they bend over backwards to wait on you so you kind of feel you should tip them. The cruise lines also like to remind you when on the ship that the staff gets a majority of their pay from tips. But don't let the tipping get to you what-so-ever because it's like tipping a waitress at a normal restaurant, etc.

If you are going to tip like your room steward at the end of the cruise, tip what you feel is good ($20-$30-$50-whatever).

The bad answer is you don't have to worry about tipping anyone because the fact is they aren't going to kick you off the ship if you don't and they aren't going to see you again when you get off the ship, so you really don't have to worry about how much or how little you do tip.

Answer 5

The cruise line will go over that with you.  Some lines add it into their bill while other will give you envelopes

Answer 6

Its actually very stress free! The automatically add on the tips to your bill. Its $10 a day per person. You are free to up it or lower it but they prefer you do not lower it.  If you buy any type of drink then there is a tip included in that. Also if you order room service you are expected to give them a dollar or two.

I went on a Carnival cruise and on the tv in the room you could check the balance anytime during the cruise, it would tell you what you had spent.

Happy Cruising!

Answer 7

Most cruise lines offer the following guidelines:

$3.50 per passenger per day for the cabin steward & your dining room waiter. $2,00 per passenger per day for the assistant waiter. A small gratuity is appropriate for the Maitre'D if he performs some extra service for you. If you drink wine in the dining room, its also appropriate to tip your somalier. The waiters/waitresses who serve drinks throughout the ship get tipped through the 15% gratuity added to your bar tab. Finally, if you gamble in the casino at the tables  for some length of time, it is customary to tip the dealer $5.00 or so when you leave the table or if you are dealed a particularly good hand.  Most cruise lines now offer the option where the tips are automatically added to your bill at the end of the cruise and you get vouchers to give to the above referenced crewmen/women. The only down side to that is that the amounts are fixed and you cannot adjust the amount for either exemplary or poor service.

Answer 8

Ok you do NOT need to tip everybody aboard the ship.

If you have spa services, they are a seperate charge and if you want to tip you can.

The people I tipped on my cruise are the waiter, assistant waiter, the stateroom attendant, and the room service guy when I ordered room service one night.

NO tips should be expected.  I hate it when people (usually those who have jobs that rely on tips) say that.

I tipped the waiter, assistant waiter, and stateroom attendant $20 for a four night cruise, which I found out is a LOT more than the "suggested tipping for cruises" that I read on the cruise lines website.  They deserved every penny.

You can have the tips automatically deducted OR you can hand them tip envelopes.  Since I don't believe we HAVE TO tip, I opted out of the automatic deduction and waited until the last night of the cruise to hand deliver our tip envelopes to the individuals I tipped.